Battle of the Beauty Boxes: January 2015 Birchbox, Glossybox, Ipsy

Another month of some exciting new products in my favorite beauty box subscriptions. I am really excited to see the value for this month in each, and see if there are any significant changes. 

Birchbox - $10 a month, rewards system is AWESOME. 10 points per product review, 100 points = 10 bucks. This month I received six products, and therefore got six dollars of credit to use in the shop. The shop is extensive and amazing - spending money there is no problem for me.

When Travelmate Sheet Mask: Value: $7.00. I am a huge fan of sheet masks, and typically get mine from Asia where they are common and cheap, as the American ones can be dicey in quality. I am looking forward to trying this.

Sumita Color Contrast Eyeliner in Hansa: Value: About $6.00. I have a black liner from this brand that I really enjoy, and olive green is an excellent color on my green eyes.

Essentiel Elements Body Lotion in Rosemary: Value: around $3.56. I will use this, and enjoy the nontraditional scent very much, even though I hate firm bottles like this due to how hard it is to get the product out.

It's a 10 Miracle Leave In Conditioner Plus Keratin: Value: $18.99. I have heard so much hype about this product via youtube and other beauty people. Although I don't typically heat style my hair, but I do have a curling want I want to get more adept at using, and I did not have a heat protector until receiving this.

Vasanti All Star 2-In-1 Face & Eye Primer: $8.00. I don't always use face primer, and have a ton of face primer samples to go through, so I really hope this works as effectively as an eye primer. I need eye primer daily to keep my shadow from creasing, and always have much less of it in my stash..

Overall: 5/5 products will be tried out and hopefully loved. Definitely a win - normally there is a product that is a reject.
Birchbox: $10 spent. Overall value: $43.50
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Glossybox: $21.00 per month, mostly super deluxe sized or full sized products. Very reliably awesome. They give you ten points per review, just like Birchbox, but it takes 1000 points to redeem for a free box. Which means overall, it takes 20 months (there are normally five products per month) to redeem a new box. Almost two years. Super lame.

Vichy Purete Thermale 3-in1 Step Cleanser: Value:$2.91. Two months ago I had no cleansers. Now I have about five. Luckily this is small enough it can go in my travel bag.

Skin&Co Truffle Therapy Serum: Value: $13.60. I have tried this serum before through a beauty subscription and enjoyed it - it isn't often to get the chance to use something so luxurious.

Kueshi Revitalizing Face Toner: Value: full size is $13.30. I am actually very low on toner and while it isn't a must in my skincare routine, I like having it around to spritz on after I cleanse my face. Plus, the ingredients list on this seems great and very natural.

Lollipops Eye Pencil in Goodbye Moon: Value: Full size at $17.70. I haven't needed to buy black eyeliner in ages thanks to these boxes. I have about 7 in different shades and shimmer levels of black and I love it. I will happily add this one to the mix.  

Teeez Trendy Cosmetics Beautiful Flat Brush Stuff: Value: Full size at $23.50. I have been trying to revamp my brush collection and I love that I get so many great quality brushes in these boxes. All of my favorites have been gifts with purchase or beauty box brushes, leaving me free to focus on spending the little money I have on nice face brushes.

Overall: 5/5 products to be kept and used. No reject products. A few full sized, and some luxury thrown in. Awesome brands.
Glossybox: $21 spent. Value: $71 (rounded to nearest ten cents)
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Ipsy: $10 a month, super reliable about providing good brands and makeup items, even if the brands aren't always super luxe. Comes in a makeup bag that is sometimes ugly and useless, sometimes wonderfully shaped and pretty. I do not count the bag as having any value in the box as it is impossible to calculate. Also provides 10 points per review, takes a super long time to gain enough to redeem for free product.

This bag looks like it is spacious. I strongly prefer when the zipper is on the top and not on the side.

J.Cat Fantabulous Gel Liner: Value: $3.99. This is in a navy color. I am not keeping this. I do use gel liner on occasion, but I barely use the ones I have. Better to keep this one new and untouched for someone who would love it. Plus, blue doesn't do a ton to compliment my coloring, and I have a navy pencil liner for the random instances I feel like using one. 

Manna Kadar Sheer Glo Shimmer Lotion: Value: approximately $7.25. I really like highlighters like this for mixing with my foundation. During the winter on cloudy days, my skin needs help looking alive. This very much resembles the Nars Orgasm Highlighter in color, a rose gold. 

Nourish Organic Eye Cream: Value: around $10.00. Eye cream is another thing I tend not to have around in excess, mostly because out of any facial care product it takes the longest to use up. I like that I can have this as a travel product/spare.

Pacifica Natural Mineral Coconut Eye Shadow in Ethereal: Value: around $3.00. This is a gorgeous highlight shade. Unlike some other Pacifica shadows I've received, this is smooth and pigmented and the shimmer is very refined. Keeping it even though I have a dozen shades similar to it. 

Real Techniques Fine Liner Brush: Value: $6.00. I don't have many liner brushes, and this was obviously meant to go with the gel liner. I appreciate when Ipsy does that, makes sure it provides the tool needed to use a product. I normally prefer my liner brushes to be firmer, but I will definitely test this out.

Overall: 4/5 products to keep, though the other was not the fault of the product, just my overstock of gel liner products. Mostly makeup, which is why I like this bag compared to the other two, which tend to focus more on skincare.
Ipsy: $10 spent. Value: $30.25 (rounded to nearest ten cents)
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Round Up:
Value Per dollar:
Birchbox: $4.35 in product for every dollar spent. (Compared to $2.34 last month)

*If you consider the $5 in credit as money off, it changes to $8.70 for every dollar spent compared to $5.85 last month*

Glossybox: $3.38 in product for every dollar spent (Compared to $4.57 last month)
Ipsy: $3.03 in product for every dollar spent. (Compared to $3.13 last month)

*Removing the value of the product I won't use changes the value to $2.63 for every dollar spent.*

The best products were in the Glossybox, which is pretty typical as it is a more high end box, followed by Ipsy and then Birchbox this time. That said, I don't think any box is a dud at all. The best value is Birchbox by ar this month, regularly and with the credit, by a full dollar which was surprising. As the Birchbox value per dollar shot up, the Glossybox fell, and Ipsy was almost the exact same as last month in value.

This is a really interesting venture so far. I think once I get 6 of these I am going to make a compilation post where I compare the three over time. 6 months is when I would be looking at cutting out one or all. 

Face Oils and Candles

I woke up this morning and it was 20 degrees. Ugh. I know it is just a cold front and it won't stay QUITE this frigid permanently, but it is still jarring when yesterday had a high of 50. Today it isn't supposed to get much higher than 25. I suppose at least the rain finished yesterday?

Two of my cold weather saviors are face oils and candles. I use face oil all year round, and recommend it to everyone I meet. If you have oily skin, most of the time adding a drop of face oil to your routine at night will help calm down your skin because it won't feel the need to overproduce. If you have dry skin like me, it is a no-brainer. Nothing has improved the tone and texture of my skin so drastically. I use it year round - I just finished a little size of the Josie Maran Argan Oil Light, which I was using over the summer for a slightly lighter feel. This is available for less than $20 at Sephora in a small size, which I can attest will last you for at least three months. I use a drop underneath moisturizer, more if I am struggling with a dryness issue. This oil is routinely in various sets as well.

Another must are candles. Candles make the cold weather a lot more worth it to me. The house smells nice and cozy, and the look of the flame is soothing to me as well. I recently purchased four Diamond Candles on special. I have used them before, but they tend to be a bit pricey at $25 and shipping is never cheap. With my 40% off deal, and a promo code, I was able to get 4 for $60 including shipping which made them basically half price. They are huge, and are well worth it. I am trying my very best not to get sucked into the Bath and Body Works money pit candles this year, as they don't last as long as soy blends do. Also, Diamond Candles have a fun ring packaged inside the candle with a code to type in online to see if you win a ring worth something more than costume jewelry.

I have never won, but I don't buy the candles for the ring. It is just a fun extra. I like how unique my ring is for this Pumpkin Chai candle, but it isn't super practical or my style. I save my rings in a little jar - I am thinking they could be fun to use for decor or something someday.

Ipsy: October 2014

Another great month from Ipsy, mostly due to the diversity of the products. They are usually pretty good about that, and there is only one I plan to give away.

The bag is a gorgeous fall color, a cool teal, but it has that on-the-side zipper thing that to me is harder to work with. I find I fit less into these types of bags, but no biggie. I will use it, or put it in my give-away pile. Most normal people don't have a bajillion little makeup bags and love getting them for free.

 

Jesse's Girl Baked Eyeshadow in Graphite Frost - Full sized, value: $3.99
Some inexpensive drugstore products are amazing. Over half of my lippies are from the drugstore, and I routinely pass over more expensive products for drugstore formulas and shades. For me, this one wasn't it. It is a gray color with a light light pink veining color, which pulls a cool toned gray on me. It is beautiful and shimmery, but I have a similar color already and when I went to rub the swatch on my hand it was very sheer. Perfect for a lot of friends I know who prefer more subtle colors. This is why I always freshly wash my hands before touching a product for the first time...in case it is the only time!

Indie Lee Brightening Face Wash - 0.5oz value: $4.00
I haven't used this yet, but I've found most cleansers are usually pretty good. This one gets good reviews so I stuck it in my travel bag where I keep all the tiny products for when I pet sit. I avoid opening products I don't intend to use up right away so the ingredients don't go bad, so I am saving this one for now.

 

Noyah Lipstick in Deeply In Mauve - 0.15g - estimated value ~$5.00
I couldn't find the grams for a full size lipstick, which retails for $18.00, but this is a fairly substantial sample sized lipstick. It is also the standout of this entire bag. It is all natural, the color is this mauvey brown as the name would suggest, making it perfect for fall. Above all else, it is the creamiest lipstick I might have ever tried. It has a lot of waxes in the ingredients list, and it is very much a creamy lipstick with a creamy feel. The color payoff is absolutely outstanding - I will be investigating these in full size for sure.

Ecru New York Acacia Protein BB Cream for hair - 1oz - value: $12.00
This is technically a small "full size" version as this is available to purchase in this size from the Ecru website, though if you get the large size it is $7.14 per ounce. I kind of hate how sizing works when it comes to that. I use natural haircare for the most part, but will be putting that aside to give this a try. It has a lot of natural ingredients and while I don't buy into the whole "BB" craze (just get one from Asia - the US ones suck), particularly for hair, I will certainly give this a try for travel.

Figs & Rouge Hand Cream in Mango Mandarin- 0.67oz - value: $6.56
This is another that is available in the small size, but per ounce is worth $3.30 when you buy a larger tube. And despite having to do a little hunting, another tube is a MUST. Like the lipstick, this product is remarkable. It smells heavenly, has natural ingredients, but as you rub it in feels almost like water. I have NEVER used a hand cream that was effective and rubbed in completely within three minutes.

This bag was exceptional - I usually am excited to try the products, but in two cases, I was exposed to new brands that have awesome products that are so great I will be repurchasing full sizes at some point. It actually isn't the most high-impact bag in terms of value, but still well worth my ten bucks.

Paid: $10.00
Value: $23.43- $31.55